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Book: Mark
 Print ( PC Only )
Mark 3:6 Seeking to Destroy Jesus
I. Why would men want to destroy Jesus?
A. In the case before us, it was He was violating their
traditions.
1. It is amazing how deeply rooted traditions can become,
and how great a control they can have over the way we
do things.
2. Traditions are one of the last things we want to give
up.
3. Jesus often spoke out against their traditions.
a. In Mark 7 He told them that they made the
commandment of none effect by their tradition.
MAR 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy
disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but
eat bread with unwashen hands?
MAR 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied
of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth
me with [their] lips, but their heart is far from me.
MAR 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines
the commandments of men.
MAR 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the
tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and
many other such like things ye do.
MAR 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment
of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
MAR 7:10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso
curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
MAR 7:11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother,
[It is] Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me; [he shall be free].
MAR 7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his
mother;
MAR 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition,
which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
b. The Jews had the Torah, the law of God given to
them by Moses.
c. They then had the Mishnah which were the oral
traditions and interpretations of the laws.
d. They then developed the Talmud which were the
written interpretations of the Mishnah. There
were over 60 volumes.
B. They had many traditions concerning the sabbath day.
1. The Sabbath day was very important to them, for it was
the sign of the covenant that God had made with them.
a. Even today, many unbelieving Jews keep the
sabbath.
b. They also observe the dietary laws such as not
eating meat and dairy products at the same
meal.
c. That is to them just part of being a Jew.
2. The Torah declared that you were not to bare any
burdens on the Sabbaths day.
a. The question is, what constitutes a burden?
b. Would wearing false teeth on the Sabbath day be
a burden?
c. How about wearing a wooden leg.
d. They did believe that healing on the Sabbath
day was a violation of the Sabbath. You could
take whatever measures necessary to save the
life of the person, but nothing toward the
healing on the Sabbath.
e. Jesus had just violated this tradition, by
healing the withe on the Sabbath.
f. He had first asked the scribes who were in the
Synagogue to make certain that all things were
done according to the book, "Is it lawful on
the Sabbath day to do evil, or to do good?"
"Is it lawful to heal or to kill?"
3. The action of Jesus was good, He healed the withe
. But in so doing, He violated their tradition, so
they determined that they must destroy Him.
C. There are those today who feel that they must destroy Jesus,
and have established diabolical plots to do so.
1. Those within the movie industry who always cast the
Christians in a very negative light, are really seeking
to destroy Jesus.
2. The A.C.L.U. have long been seeking to destroy Jesus,
and unfortunately been receiving help from the Supreme
Court, in seeing that Jesus is destroyed from the
public sector.
3. Even the liberal legislators in Washington are seeking
to destroy Jesus and have drafted a bill that would
prohibit a person having a Bible on their desk, or
witnessing in their work place because it constitutes
religious harassment.
4. Our forefathers in the constitution established the
freedom of religion clause, by which they intended that
there should not be any state church, but that a person
would be free to worship God in any denomination he may
desire. England was punishing those who were seeking to
break away from the Church of England, and they wanted
to be sure that the government did not seek to
establish a mandatory state church here.
5. There are those who have twisted the intent and purpose
of this constitutional right to be free to worship God
however you may desire, that is the freedom of religion
to mean freedom from religion, these men are seeking to
destroy Jesus.
6. Why would they seek to destroy Jesus today?
a. Jesus said it was because they loved the
darkness rather than the light because their
deeds were evil.
b. Jesus spoke out against adultery, they desire
to commit adultery.
c. Jesus spoke out against hatred and taking
revenge, they hate and desire to destroy.
d. Jesus spoke against lying and graft. These men
are liars, and they love to defraud others.
e. Jesus taught that we should forgive others
their wrongs against us. These men are
unforgiving.
f. Jesus said that the most important thing is to
love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.
These men are filled with hatred toward Jesus
and any one who seeks to follow Him.
g. What things did Jesus say that you find
offensive?
h. What is it about Jesus that has created such a
negative reaction by you that you seek to
destroy Him?
C. In the story we have before us we note that it was not a
rational motive to destroy Jesus, but emotional and spiritual.
1. When they finally brought Jesus before Pilate to get
the Roman government to crucify Him, Pilate realized
that they had no real charges against Him, but that
they were envious of Jesus, because of His popular
appeal, and they were afraid that they were going to
lose their tyrannical control over the people.
2. When they were crying for Pilate to crucify Jesus, he
asked for a logical reason, but they had none, they
just cried all the louder, "Crucify Him."
3. Jesus had asked them a very logical question, "Is it
lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath?"
a. Sometimes when you ask for a reason why things
are done in such an inefficient way, the answer
is, "Its our policy." There is no good reason
for it, it is just our policy. It doesn't make
sense, but its our policy.
b. I get so frustrated around here at times when
I hear of certain rules that have been
established, and have become policy. I ask,
"Why are we doing this?" or "Why did you tell
them that?" and I find that it is a policy
created by some secretary 15 years ago, who
was too lazy to leave her desk to help someone.
c. They could not give to Jesus a logical answer
to his reasonable question. Its just our
tradition, it is illogical, and stupid, but
that's the way it is.
4. Today it is the same, the hatred of Jesus is not
logical, you cannot point to the teachings of Jesus and
find fault, you must admit that He was right, and what
He taught is good, yet people hate Him so much they
seek to destroy Him.
a. Christian bashing has become a favorite sport
in the liberal sector of the country, they are
seeking to make the word fundamentalist an evil
word.
b. We are being identified as one of the greatest
dangers to freedom in America.
c. Freedom to what? Freedom to lie, steal, cheat,
defraud, kill, rape, to with anyone at
any time under any circumstances.
d. You see, we are so narrow that we call
sin, why does that upset Janet
Reno and Joyclyn Elders, and Hillery so much?
It is because they feel that a person should be
protected to have those freedoms.
e. We say that it is wrong for an adult man to
seduce a boy of eight years of age. We are a
real threat to freedom.
f. We say that it is wrong to use your public
office for personal gain, that it is wrong to
smoke pot even if you do not inhale, and that a
person who is in a high place of public trust
making laws whereby others are to be governed
should set the highest moral standards for
themselves, they should not be womanizers. You
bet we are a threat to such freedoms.
g. We oppose the freedom to do evil, and we
promote the freedom to do good.
5. Jesus taught personal freedoms, He was breaking away
from the that had been imposed by the religious
leaders of that day, he was a threat to their freedom
to take advantage of the common man. He taught us to
respect the rights of others to own and enjoy what was
theirs. Where ever Christianity has gone, freedom has
followed. Why is it that the communists feared
Christianity so much?
6. Who is it that seeks to destroy Jesus? Men with evil
hearts.
7. Why do they seek to destroy Him? Because they love
darkness rather than light because their deeds are
evil.
8. Are you seeking to destroy Jesus today? Jesus said, if
you are not for Me, you are against Me. You cannot be
neutral.
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